Federal Member for Fadden

About Fadden

The Region

Most of the northern Gold Coast falls within the federal electorate of Fadden, beginning with Molendinar and Labrador in the south. Its boundaries encompass Pacific Pines and Oxenford in the west and the entire eastern side of the Pacific Motorway up to the Albert and Logan Rivers in Woongoolba – including Runaway Bay, Hope Island and the emerging suburbs of Coomera and Pimpama. The beautiful Broadwater, regarded as the heart of the Gold Coast, forms the physical boundary in the east.

Increasingly, the north is proving to be the driving force of our city. We are already the best theme park destination in Australia and are now starting to see the local investment potential that comes with a successful film industry at Oxenford’s Village Roadshow Studios. Our shipbuilding and servicing industry, centered at the Gold Coast City Marina, is resurgent and going from strength to strength.

The variety of industries throughout Yatala and Stapylton are staggering in their complexity and scale and prove that manufacturing is alive and well in this country. The presence of a major arterial road close by, and the proximity of the region between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, makes it a perfect location to base such operations. Incredibly, just a short drive from our industrial heartland you’ll find yourself among cane fields and the small townships of Jacobs Well and Woongoolba.

Small business is the lifeblood of the southern reaches of the coast’s north, particularly along Brisbane Road. Harbour Town is our most prominent retail destination, soon to be joined by the new Coomera Town Centre and Westfield Helensvale in servicing our emerging communities. More recently, the NightQuarter markets have introduced some fantastic small food vendors and a new live music precinct to Helensvale. Our public and private schools are outstanding, and the lifestyle we have on offer makes the northern Gold Coast one of the best places in Queensland to raise a family.

The Namesake

Fadden is named after former Prime Minister Sir Arthur ‘Artie’ Fadden (1895-1973), also the local member for the region for almost a decade.

Artie represented what was to become the Gold Coast from 1949-1958, when it was the sprawling South Coast electorate of McPherson. Back then, barely 20,000 people called this area home and it was not even declared a city until 1959. He previously represented the federal seat of Darling Downs and during this time served as Prime Minister, famously for ‘fourty days and fourty nights’.

Having taken over from Robert Menzies, Fadden lost the support of two independent members during this tumultuous wartime period and was succeeded by Ben Chifley. He has the distinction of being our nation’s second longest-serving treasurer, beaten only many decades later by Peter Costello. After having a taste for the role preparing Australia’s finances in the lead up to the war with Japan, he guided our economy through the prosperity of the post-war period.